HR: 0800h
AN: A51A-0019    [Abstracts]
TI: The Madden-Julian Oscillation in East Pacific QuikSCAT Winds
AU: * Searcy, J A
EM: jsearcy@nmt.edu
AF: Physics Dept. New Mexico Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Raymond, D J
EM: raymond@kestrel.nmt.edu
AF: Physics Dept. New Mexico Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AB: The Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) remains one of the greatest mysteries of tropical meteorology. It is believed to affect many aspects of the tropical East Pacific's weather in the boreal summer and fall, from tropical cyclogenesis to rain cycles. However, before these correlations can be truly understood, an accurate empirical model of the MJO must be created. To aid in this endeavor a statistical analysis of QuikSCAT zonal winds is used to show some key properties of the MJO in the eastern Pacific. A five-year time series of summertime QuikSCAT zonal winds in the 6 N to 10 N belt are analyzed for evidence of the MJO between the dateline and Central America. This is accomplished by comparing the cross-spectrum of the time series at each longitude, minus its annual cycle, with that of an anchor point in the West Pacific. From this analysis we find evidence for the continuous propagation of the MJO from the western Pacific to Central America. The signature of this propagation is weak from the dateline to near 120 W, but is statistically significant. These results are particularly interesting in view of the invisibility of the MJO in outgoing longwave radiation through these longitudes.
DE: 3314 Convective processes
DE: 3339 Ocean/atmosphere interactions (0312, 4504)
DE: 3367 Theoretical modeling
DE: 3374 Tropical meteorology
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005